


The Exception

by sneakronicity



Category: Avengers (Comics), Black Widow (Comics), Hawkeye (Comics)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-23
Updated: 2015-01-23
Packaged: 2018-03-08 19:27:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3220685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sneakronicity/pseuds/sneakronicity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Spoilers for Black Widow #14.  After the events in that issue Clint and Natasha talk.  Summaries are difficult when trying to avoid posting spoilery things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Exception

**Author's Note:**

> So I'm still not sold on this ending, but hope y'all enjoy it anyway. I'm loving Edmondson and Noto's run on the Black Widow solo so much, and how Clint keeps popping up in it, so here's a possible direction it could go next.

There was a ringing in her ears when she awoke, and every inch of her body ached.Her head pounded, it was difficult to breathe, but she was alive; alive, and warm, and dry...

Slowly cracking her eyes open, Natasha peered around the dimly lit room.Heavy curtains were drawn, but she could tell from the light that peeked around the edges that many hours had passed since her ill fated voyage.She lay in a double bed in the centre of the room, a dresser with an old television perched on top located directly across from her.There were three doors leading out from the room: outside, bathroom and closet, presumably; all standard hotel fare.On one side of the bed was a nightstand, and on the other a small desk with an uncomfortable looking chair containing a lone, seemingly sleeping, occupant.

“Clint?” she croaked, her voice breaking as she forced even that one word through her parched throat.

Clint jolted awake, practically falling out of his chair as he dropped his feet off the deskand sat up straight. Looking around the room quickly, his eyes settled on Natasha, and his surprise and confusion immediately turned to relief.“‘bout time you woke up,” he said, his words slightly slurred from sleep.

“Where are we?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.  

“We’re safe,” he replied, standing.  

Natasha watched him cross to the dresser and open a bottle of water, pouring it into a glass before returning to her side.“At a hotel?” she asked, skeptically, as she reached for the glass.Clint hesitated, clearly intending to hold it for her so she could drink, but acquiescing and handing it over instead.

“It’s one of those fleabag motels where nobody cares and nobody asks questions,” he replied, standing awkwardly at her bedside a moment before pulling his chair over and taking a seat again.

“And nobody tries to protect their guests if someone _does_ start asking questions,” she said, her voice a little stronger now that her throat wasn’t so dry.Stronger and harsher.

Clint sighed.“Christ, Natasha, you really think I haven’t taken every precaution?” he met her eyes with clear annoyance.“I’m a Secret Avenger, I’ve worked with SHIELD, and let’s not forget who gave me my initial training in espionage.”

That shut her up.Clint had been young, and brash, and not the best pupil when she had first met him, but it would be insulting to suggest he hadn’t retained any of her lessons, and after having worked with him and the Secret Avengers she knew what he was capable of.  

“Some day you’re gonna have to learn to trust people.You don’t gotta do everything alone.”

 For a long time they sat in silence before Natasha finally broke it.“How did you find me?”

Chuckling, Clint settled back in his seat a little more comfortably.“You used a SHIELD credit card, Nat.Did you think they wouldn’t notice?”

“Not so quickly,” she admitted.Resting the glass on her stomach, she lay her head back on the pillow again, turning it slightly so she could watch Clint.“Why you?”

“Whatever you’re up to... they can’t risk being connected to it,” he replied, his mirth fading.  

“I can’t think the Avengers would be too keen on that either,” she pointed out, studying Clint’s expression.He was usually an open book to her if she cared enough to look, but today she was having trouble reading him.Maybe he really was better at being secretive than she had given him credit for.

“They’re not,” he agreed.“But before I was an Avenger, I was your...” his brow furrowed slightly as he trailed off.No use drudging that up.“I’ve known you longer than I’ve known any of the rest of them, and I meant what I said a while back.”He tried a weak smile.“You’re my best friend, Tasha.I’m loyal to the Avengers, but if they’re just gonna abandon you...”

Natasha remembered when he had told her that.She had been so touched by Clint’s words, by his understanding, that she had kissed him in gratitude, or at least that had been her intention.They had gotten a little carried away after that before she’d broken the kiss; he had been dating Jessica at the time, and Natasha had been... no, she had been alone.Always alone.

Seeing him look away, she knew he was thinking about it too.They had never discussed what had happened between them, just written it off as a mistake and moved on.

“They can’t help me with this, Clint,” she said after a moment, “and neither can you.”

He met her eyes again and she could see the argument brewing there.“And _you_ can’t do this alone.”

“Yes, I can, and I will,” she told him evenly.“This isn’t the type of fight you can go into with stun guns and putty arrows.”He bristled at this but she didn’t flinch.This had always been a sticking point with them, their differing morals.Natasha was willing to do what needed to be done, no matter what, while Clint was always looking for a non-lethal way out.“I need to do this my way.”

Again there was silence, and this time Natasha determinately let it hang in the air.She appreciated Clint being here for her, more than she could put into words, but this was her fight, and he had to know that she had to end CHAOS permanently or they would never let up.

In the end, she knew he would get it.The Tracksuit Mafia had been plaguing him for months, and it was only getting worse.He could rest on his morals for only so long before necessity stepped in.

“I’m still helping,” he said after a long moment, and Natasha felt her heart soften.SHIELD had cut her off, the Avengers were pretending she didn’t exist, but Clint was still there for her.“Even if I’m just driving your getaway car, I’m not letting you do this alone.We’ll figure it out.”

She didn’t have it in her to fight him any longer, and there was a part of her that wanted his help, a part of her that maybe even needed him.She was alone; she never needed anyone, didn’t belong anywhere, couldn’t trust anyone.

She was the exception, but maybe even the Black Widow had exceptions of her own.

 


End file.
